// Nutella chocolate chip cookies //

Oh, wow. It's been a month since I've posted? Sorry, gang. I've had some camera/internet issues, therefore making it hard to blog. I'll try to catch up as much as possible! In the meantime, this is a simple recipe that only uses FOUR ingredients. 4!!!! Nutella, egg whites, flour + chocolate chips. Personally, it was super-rich and if I were to make it again, I'd downsize the chocolate chips to about 1 cup. You guys can eyeball it and adjust according to taste. Also, I had to bake mine a little bit longer than the 7 minutes she stated in the recipe. Just keep an eye on it while it's baking and poke until almost dry.

// grilled salmon w/nectarine salsa //

grilled salmon w/nectarine salsa

salmon - fresh off the grill

nectarine salsa

roasted sweet potato slices & salsa

Grilling season is almost over in most cities, but here in the ATL it's still wavering between cool days and scorchin' hot! We decided to take advantage of the weather by grilling out for Sunday supper. A couple of couply friends and I have been rotating Sundays for dinner. We usually try to make a one-pot meal or something that's easy for at least 6-8 people. I found this recipe while getting ready for work and sent the ingredients to my boyfriend (who is the also griller) to head to the grocery store for us. Only having about 1.5 hours after work to prepare the dinner, this was pretty doable. You just have to time the grill (I'm sure you can broil salmon inside, too if you don't have a grill) and the sides. I made sauteed zucchini/squash, roasted sweet potato slices and the salsa was a cinch to make. Sunday supper was a success!

// salted caramel brownies //

eat your heart out

blending the ingredients

only had a heart-shaped pan around, doesn't mean anything ;]

making the caramel topping

smearing the top w/the caramel topping

you can't have just one bite!

So, after a hiatus on eating foods that are bad for you, or eating at all (spent 3 days in the hospital on an IV w/no food or drink recently)...this should suffice for my first post back. ;]

Made this for a dinner party recently, and we kept passing it around the table during a game of Yahtzee. Everyone was trying to diet! It was "Get this away from me!", then two minutes later that same person is spooning another bite. We made up a rule to take a shot of Crown if someone got Yahtzee and this brownie was the perfect chaser.

Feel free to make this and share, or keep it around and spoon at your own pace. You can find the recipe here.

// pee-pee amuse-bouche //

chicken broth, lemon jello, apple juice, lemon ice

I'm baaaaack! After a short absence from here, I'd like to explain why it's been so long since I've posted. I mean I sort of have a doctor's note, really. To make a long story short, I had my appendix out when I was two years old and the scar tissue from that comes back around to cause trouble every now and then. This is basically what happened to me: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/tc/bowel-obstruction-topic-overview. It's a type of bowel obstruction and I've had it 2-3x before - all times, severely painful! They put me on an IV and pumped morphine and Dilaudid (5x stronger than morphine - heard they use it on cancer patients) and I wasn't allowed to eat/drink anything for 3 days. They also put an NG tube down my nose/throat into my belly to suck out excess stuff like bile to relieve pressure on my tummy. THAT was probably the worst because it was in me for 1.5 days and I couldn't talk or swallow. The picture above was my 1st meal in the hospital. I remember them waking me up around 6:30am and I was really excited because I was finally going to get some food! Low and behold, it was chicken broth, apple juice, lemon jello and lemon ice. I think I just looked at it, rolled my eyes and went back to sleep for another 30 minutes before I poked and prodded my "food". The chicken broth and juice went down fine, but the other stuff...yuck. I remember I made my boyfriend try the lemon ice before I did and he faked an "mmmmmm" before the spoon even hit his mouth. Hahahha. Nice try! Anyway, I was in there last Sun.-Wed. and I'm grateful for my friends and family who came to visit and keep me company. Especially to my poor boyfriend, Luke, who had to endure sleeping in the chair-bed the whole time and was my personal secretary (taking my phone calls and talking for me) during my NG tube days. I'm feeling about 90% back to normal and am looking forward to eating my fave foods soon!

// just BEET it //

Mmmmmm. Roasted beets. So simple and it's one of those things that you just pop in the oven, forget about it (literally) and then voila...a pleasant surprise when you remember about an hour later that you're cooking something. I've never really tried to roast beets myself,it's just one of those things you never really think about. You just see it canned or at salad bars. Saw some at the farmer's market so I grabbed a bunch and thought I'd try it. Very little ingredients needed and it's a no-fuss job. Just be careful when you're eating it because it stains!

Ingredients:

• fresh beets 
• olive oil
• salt/pepper

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash and scrub beets.
3. Line baking pan w/aluminum foil.
4. Place beets in a single layer on the foil, drizzle olive oil all over.
5. Salt/pepper lightly.
6. Wrap the beets in the foil, making a pouch. If you have lots of beets, cover with another sheet of foil to make pouch.
7. Bake for an hour (or more) depending on how big your beets are. I had about 3-4 medium sized ones and it took an hour.
8. You can tell that they're ready by poking it with a fork or knife. It should be tender and the skin should be really soft.
9. Let beets cool and then you should be able to peel the skin off very easily!

// kale chips //

Sooooo, I've got something to tell you. You probably won't believe what I'm about to say next, but....I'm doing a cleanse. I know. I know! Insane for someone who thinks about her next meal while she's eating her current one.  Just let me explain. First of all, it's not one of those where you starve yourself and only drink lemonade. I'm allowed to eat, just certain things are restricted (booze, caffeine, red meat, gluten/soy/dairy products). Basically, I'm on it for 21 days and it's definitely going to be a big discipline test. So, I apologize in advance for not posting anything too exciting food-wise on here. That means: nothing fried and no desserts (real ones at least). Don't worry, it's only until Labor Day weekend (that's what I've been telling myself) and I'll still try to post interesting stuff. I've also got some restaurants around ATL that I've been meaning to post about, too. Thanks in advance for understanding. ;]

 Now, for the first healthy post. Hehehhe. I made kale chips. If you already like to snack on dried seaweed, then this is pretty similar. Kale's just one of those super-greens that are packed with nutrients that you need, but it can be bitter depending on how you cook it. There really isn't any way to mess this up.

Ingredients:

1. a bunch or 2 of kale
2. 1 TBS olive oil
3. salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 300.
2. Mix kale and olive oil in a bowl until thoroughly coated. If it looks dry, add a little bit more oil. Add a lil bit of salt.
3. Bake for about 20 minutes. It may not look crispy, but when you touch it (when you take it out) it should be light, dry and crispy. Season w/more salt if needed.

// NSFW carrot //

This is what happens when you send your boyfriend to pick up carrots from the market...